OUR REPORTS

Malaria & Infectious Disease

In addition to recording the second most malaria deaths of any country in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is a regional epicenter of spreading resistance to vital anti-malarial drugs. The situation is worst in ethnic areas in the eastern, western and northern border regions, which receive little or no government health services and are inaccessible to large-scale international efforts. These regions are populated with displaced and vulnerable communities and rife with fake anti-malaria drugs, contributing to a growing reservoir of infection and a “perfect storm” of conditions to encourage increasing resistance to key artemisinin-based drugs.

With in-depth mentoring and technical support from CPI, our local partners have conducted the only peer-reviewed surveys in this inaccessible region, demonstrating that malaria accounts for nearly half of all deaths, with a disproportionate impact on children and pregnant women: Nearly 15% of children will die before their fifth birthday, one-third from malaria, and malaria is the leading cause of maternal anemia, stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight.